ZURICH, March 4, 2004 – Investors in Mexico now will be able to buy or sell a mutual fund linked to the performance of the Dow Jones STOXX 50 Index. STOXX Ltd., a leading provider of pan-European indexes, issued its first such license in Mexico to Santander Serfin, Mexico’s third-largest fund company.

Santander Serfin has 37 funds and total assets under management of US$4.7 billion.

The new mutual fund, STEREUR, will allow Mexican investors for the first time in their home market to invest in one of the most widely recognized barometers of Europe’s equity market, the Dow Jones STOXX 50. The mutual fund is expected to attract many individual and institutional investors.

The Dow Jones STOXX 50 linked STEREUR mutual fund is exclusively available in Mexico. Its objective is to achieve a return close to that of the Dow Jones STOXX 50 by investing in the constituents that comprise the index. With this new mutual fund based on the performance of the Dow Jones STOXX 50, Santander Serfin reaffirms its leadership in product innovation and its commitment to creating alternative products according to clients’ needs.